


Preparations

by anonymousComrade



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-02
Updated: 2011-06-02
Packaged: 2017-10-20 00:52:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/207065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousComrade/pseuds/anonymousComrade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>And so they resolved to meet their fates, together.</i></p><p>Spoilers for the June 1, 2011 update.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Preparations

**Author's Note:**

> So after the update, CapSep and a couple of anons in HSG I think had the idea that Terezi had a plan to get the others out of their hideout safely but would stay behind to smash the teleportalizer, but Karkat would be like "MAN FUCK THAT" and stay with her, even if it means he dies too.
> 
> And because I'm a sucker, I wrote a fanfic based on it
> 
> I doubt this has any chance of being remotely similar to how canon will pan out, but here's this thing anyway

"Kanaya."

Terezi doesn't turn around to speak to her. Mentally, she's scrambling to think of something ( _anything_ ) she can do to save her fellow survivors from the oncoming storm.

 _One_ , she cannot help but think as she tries to concentrate, _that would not happen if I had done what I came here to do._

Kanaya does not respond at first. "I know you're there. Come out." She obliges, stepping out of the stairway access. She's been watching Terezi and Vriska this whole time, trying to decide whether or not to interfere before inaction on Terezi's part made the decision for her.

"Yes, Terezi?"

"We don't have a lot of time. Find Karkat and Sollux, and meet me at the transportalizer hub."

Kanaya nods and is gone before the afterimage of her glow dissapates in Terezi's mind's eye.

Elsewhere in the Veil, Karkat falls to the ground after narrowly dodging another swing taken at him by Gamzee. Sollux is attempting an escape but without any real way to navigate, he is not making much progress and he can still hear the clash of battle behind him. Gamzee pulls a new weapon from his strife deck, one Karkat hasn't seen before but can't stop staring at now. It is at once beautiful and terrible.

Gamzee hefts the warhammer to strike the killing blow and end this struggle. He swings it in a wide arc... and catches nothing but air. He looks around the room. Karkat has disappeared and he realizes he can't hear Sollux's footsteps anymore, either. He starts laughing to himself.

 _Motherfucking miracles, all up in this bitch._

Karkat isn't sure what just happened, only that he's slumped over someone or some _thing_ moving at an impossibly fast pace, and Sollux is there too. It isn't until his captor sets them down carefully in the middle of the transportalizers that he realizes Kanaya is the one who saved him from the Bard of Rage. He opens his mouth to speak, relieved that his friend is still alive, somehow, but Terezi is there and she starts talking before he has the chance.

"There's not much time, so let's make this quick. Vriska is gone. I meant to kill her, but in the end I couldn't do it, and if we don't move fast we might all die here because she went to take on the Demon. She'll lose, and he'll follow her trail here and kill us all unless we move _right this fucking instant._ "

She's pacing back and forth but she's all business as she makes her speech. "Sollux, you know where most of these transportalizers go. Do any of them point off this rock? Is there another asteroid we can escape to from here?"

He racks his brain, trying to remember exactly where in paradox space these things lead to. "I think so. Point me to the one leading to the computer room so I can get my bearings and I'll try to remember."

Karkat helps him up and leads him to that specific spot. Sollux takes careful, deliberate steps to measure out the distance before his feet kick up against one in the corner of the room. He grins and says, "This one. It's a smaller place, just a couple of rooms, but it's completely seperate from the main facility."

"Alright, then. Kanaya, Sollux, Karkat, take the transportalizer and get the hell out of here. I'll... I've got preparations to finish, then I'll follow you. Hurry!"

Kanaya and Sollux step atop the pad and disappear in a plume of fire and a quiet _shoosh_. Karkat watches as Terezi simply stands there, cane in hand.

"Go on, Karkles. You have to escape, too."

He moves to do exactly that, but before he sets foot on the device, he turns to steal another glance at Terezi. She hasn't moved from that spot.

"'Preparations to finish?' What are you planning, Terezi?"

She sighs. There's not enough time to argue with him over this. "When you leave, I'm going to destroy the transportalizer pad, so he can't follow you."

His heart leaps into his throat, and he needs a moment before he can speak. Even then, he can only manage a single word.

"But--"

"Go, Karkat. As far as he knows, we're all here. He's going to comb this place looking for us before he gets bored and destroys it outright. I'll face him alone, maybe I can buy you all some time, and if we're lucky, he'll think I'm the last one and give up the search."

She means to-- no. He can't allow this.

Terezi turns to him and smiles, actually fucking _smiles_. "It was... it was nice knowing you, Karkat. Really. I mean that."

The sound of the pad being torn open interrupts her. He is standing over the transportalizer, sparks flying out of the gash created by the black Regisickle in his hand.

"Karkat, why--"

"I can't let you do this alone. I _won't_ let you do this alone. It's not fair."

"Kar--"

"This is my final act as leader, Terezi. To stand by you and see this through to the end."

She can't think of anything to say. There isn't really _anything_ she can say to that.

Karkat approaches her, sickle in hand, ready for the Demon but he has no delusions that an encounter with the humans' Jack Noir is going to end in anything but his own death. He stands beside her and it's not long before a crash can be heard in the distance.

The Demon is here.

Terezi instinctively reaches for Karkat's hand. He's okay with that. When a series of honks is cut short by another explosion, he turns and embraces her.

The intermittent sounds of rending metal draw ever nearer. "Karkat?"

"Terezi?"

"I love you, Karkat."

"...I love you too, Terezi."

And so they resolved to meet their fates, together.

~*~

The green glow of the asteroid's explosion reflects off Vriska's face as she stands in stunned disbelief. Terezi was right, and she'd been too prideful to accept it, and now her friends were all dead. They would be the ones to pay for her arrogance.

Or would they? Terezi had to have a backup plan. She _always_ had a backup plan. Vriska suddenly finds herself almost _laughing_ in triumph. Jack, the idiot, he could destroy the lab all he liked. Terezi has probably gotten everyone halfway across the Veil by now! If Jack comes back and she kills him, crisis averted, and if she loses, then he leaves the Veil, thinking she's the last one, and her friends are rid of him forever. If she makes it out of here alive, she thought to herself, she'll personally congratulate Terezi for her foresight.

The air behind her hisses and crackles with static, and she catches a faint whiff of ozone. Jack has returned.

Vriska wheels around to face him, octet at the ready. "So, you came back! Didn't think you had the guts, you... goddamn... coward."

She catches sight of his red-stained arm and the teal-tinged blade lodged in his chest as Jack unceremoniously dumps something at her feet. Bodies. Two of them.

His abdomen is torn open.

Her torso is lined with stab wounds.

She stares at the two of them, unwilling to believe her eyes. _What's a'matter, toots? Seein' red? No wait that's stupid, one of 'em bleeds that bluish green crap._

Throw the fucking dice, a voice in the back of her mind screams. _Fuck, here, look, I invited a coupla your friends over, see? Wait goddamnit where's the joke in that one, lemme start over._

Their blood mingles on the platform, forming a sickly shade of purple as she finally moves her eyes from the grisly scene. _Oh, here you go, I got one: here are your friends. I stabbed them to death. Care to join 'em?_

The last thing that runs through Vriska's mind, before she is completely given over to fury, is that she never meant for any of this to happen.

**Author's Note:**

> So how about that update! Yeah I admit I kind of teared up a little
> 
> I'm not mad though, in fact I congratulate Hussie on making me give a damn about these characters
> 
> I almost didn't post this, I mean it's kind of corny and lame and there's like a million other reaction fics dealing with this that do it better, but hey, I wrote it and here you go


End file.
